Friday, July 13, 2012

Cult - Robert Knepper's Cult is Well Worth Joining!

Clicking photos in this article may lead to spoilers for the Cult
photos by Kay Kellam and Angie Gallegos
There are times when you watch a tv show and think 'been there, done that' -- Cult, a new show coming on cw mid-season is not one of those shows.
It's a bit of a creepy thriller, if you take the time to think and wonder if it could be real. And there is a great deal of potential for cross promotion and interactivity, from this show where the plot contains a show within the show, and fans who think that show within the show, might be real, or tied to reality in some very real way.
photos by Kay Kellam and Angie Gallegos
Robert Knepper (Prison Break's T-Bag, Heroes' Samuel Sullivan and Stargate Universe's Simeon) is at his charismatic best as Cult Leader Billy Grimm. As a special treat for the audience, before being properly introduced and coming out a video was played that Robert Knepper had pre-recorded, in character as Billy Grimm. It was an intense piece in which he implored the audience not to believe the liar who was about to come on stage -- the actor who played him, but was not him. It was a short piece, that was not a 'must do' by any means, and yet Robert Knepper had
photos by Kay Kellam and Angie Gallegos
played it so beautifully that an audience already eager to join Billy Grimm's cult having just seen the pilot wanted to leap from their seats when Robert Knepper came onto the platform. This ability to so completely embrace his character, and capture that charisma required to make the audience believe members of a cult would gather around him, follow him, and rally in support of him is pivotal in making or breaking a show like this -- and Robert Knepper showed both during the pilot, and during his appearance at Comic-Con that he had all those pieces of the character in place, without being over-the-top, without being creepy, without being the Robert Knepper we knew and recognized from Heroes, Prison Break and Stargate Universe.
photos by Kay Kellam and Angie Gallegos
It is inevitable at Comic-Con that people who want to get in to a panel for what is is about won't be able to because the room is full, and not every single person in that room will be there for what is currently going on. Sometimes they are there out of fear the room will be full for the next panel, and that's what they really want, sometimes they are interested in an actor, or artist, in the current panel because of some of their other work and are willing to endure talk about work they have either never heard of, or don't particularly care for. However, there are occasions, when those people who enter the room thinking they are of the uninterested variety find, at the end of the panel, they have been converted, or at the very least swayed and are now if not blatantly looking forward to what they've heard about, are suddenly inexplicably curious.
photos by Kay Kellam and Angie GallegosSuch was the case with some of the people around me at the Cult panel. They came in talking about Vampire Diaries, and I had no idea why. It isn't a show I watch, or have ever seen an episode of, so I had no idea Matt Davis was an actor from the hit show until it came time to write this article and IMDB search the various actors for their credits in doing my research etc. But those same people who came in bemoaning how they were going to have to watch a pilot they had no interest in to get a mere 15 minutes with Matt Davis on stage, were saying when the panel was over that Cult was going on their must remember to watch for list.
In many ways that sums up the magic of a great panel at Comic-Con. When you, and the people around you, come out... wanting to join a Cult, and encourage others to do so.

As any of the ones who know the secret of the Cult would warn you -- do not click on the photos, if you do, notice the warning and do not watch this!

As with all wb panels, check the wb website for video of this panel